Pit bull owners, consider yourselves on notice
Three years after mauling death, there is still a problem with this breed

By Ken Esten Cooke
Reporter Publisher

Listen to the police scanners around here and you realize that a lot of calls for animal control revolve around a particular type of dog — the pit bull.

After the horrifying case of Lillian Stiles, who was dragged off her riding lawn mower and killed by a pack of these animals in December 2005, you can understand why locals would be nervous. We don’t distance ourselves anymore. Pit bull killings are not just “something that happens somewhere else.”

Last week, a Toledo, Ohio mother of a toddler went ballistic on her neighbor. But I don’t think anyone would blame her.

Her neighbor’s pit bull had chewed on the face of her two year old, leaving a big welt and reportedly tossing the toddler across the kitchen like a rag doll with a violent shake. Go nuts all you like, lady. Can’t blame you. I would have gone nuts, too, if one of these living loaded weapons had gotten hold of one of my children.

I’ve had a pit bull chase me down the street when jogging one night. I did not think this loose family pet was “cute.” Fortunately, there was only one.

One month ago, a man I know very well was cornered by five of these dogs in the Coffield Addition. He was a World War II veteran and would not have had time to make it to his front door if one of the dogs had attacked. Fortunately, his neighbor swung a sprinkler head attached to a hose and hit one of the devils and they scattered. Here was a man in his golden years who has lived the most honorable of lives, just like Mrs. Stiles, and he was facing his mortality in the most gruesome of ways.

And why? Because one of his neighbors thought he needed to have five or six of these dogs. That there are older people and children all over that neighborhood, he never gave a thought.

In Madisonville, they got tired of these dogs and did something about it. That town banned the breed. Those who already own them may keep them, but must have $100,000 in liability and pay a $30 per year registration fee. Owners must also have a pen to keep them in and put a muzzle and leash on them when they are taken out. And if pit bull pups are born, owners have 10 weeks to get them out of Madisonville.

Breeding groups have called it an “illegal ban” and encourage people not to pay any fines. But the Madisonville council stuck to its guns, saying the complaints came from out of town. None came from locals.

Personally, I wouldn’t care if our city council declared open season on pit bulls. Most of them are just potentially explosive decorations for young tough guys.

And I’ve heard “it’s all in how they’re raised.” A high school friend told me his pit bull was gentle. (He also was a more responsible owner and had a sturdy pen for his dog.)

But almost weekly on some news source, there is a story of a supposedly docile pit bull pet going nuts and biting or injuring children and neighbors, or even taking a life. Last year, six people were killed by family pit bulls, four were children under 11.

There’s just something in this very aggressive breed of dog.

One 32-year Denton veterinarian wrote: “Every day, I see pitbull owners in total denial about the danger they bring into their homes. Pitbulls are a special problem because their aggressive tendencies can be masked behind owner affection. No one can predict which ones will snap and kill or maim. The breed must be strictly regulated by cities with enforced spay/neuter laws. Owners should be held criminally liable for death or injury.”

I’m glad our State Rep. Dan Gattis pushed “Lillian’s Law,” which holds owners responsible. Its only shortcoming is that there is still a “one free bite.” For children or the elderly, that may be all it takes.

If you own one of these dogs, be responsible and keep it to one. Keep the thing in a pen and make sure there’s not a way for it to roam. If it roams near my house, I will shoot it first and ask questions later.

And like the lady in Toledo, I doubt if many people will have a problem with that.

ken@rockdalereporter.com